My First Love Story

For my English class we had an assignment to write a short story. I have to say that writing is not my thing. I stress over it and I have trouble getting my thoughts on to paper. With the help of my mom and a couple friends I was able to write an amazing story. So far I think this is my best one. Here it is. Please enjoy.

Eye Contact

We have been compared. Not in a bad way but not in a good way either. Many of our friends have compared us to the age old love story
Romeo and Juliet. Our love blossomed in the most unlikely of places. This is the story of our love.

            Eye contact. That was the first thing I remember him saying. I remember his voice dancing across the distance between us. I could feel his presence as he walked by me leaving a couple inches between us. Even after he had left the room I could still feel his closeness. His smell was the most captivating of it all. It hung in the air like rain after a storm. Spring mixed with confidence, that’s what he smelled like.

            The small glimpse, piece, taste of him was enough to get me through the week. I was not expecting to see him ever again. He reappeared right as I was starting to crave a glimpse of him. Everything about him was as captivating, if not more, than what I remembered.

             I was sitting at a table for two in the internet café, where I had seen him last. Eye contact. Those two words echoed in my head as I waited to see if he would walk in. In the two seconds it took for me to turn the page of my book, he came in and sat down at my table.

            “Won’t you look at me?” he questioned. All I could do was look at his hands that sat on the table folded. His hands were gentle. They were kind.

            “Eye contact”, he whispered. As he spoke those words I looked up to meet his gaze. Never before did I think that a pair of eyes could make my heart stop. But his eyes were the kind of eyes you could get lost in, but at the same time they could cut right through you. I couldn't help but stare.  

            “You are aware that staring will make me leave, right?”

            He had me wrapped around his finger. He was all I could think about, and still is. That was our first official conversation and we haven’t stopped talking since then.

            You may think that our love was perfect and problem free but you couldn’t be more wrong. We had our fair share of problems, plus a couple. We never fought, we never disagreed. We didn’t even get in each other’s way. Our problems very rarely involved our actions. Romeo and Juliet had a forbidden love, as did we, in a way. There was an age difference that my parents didn’t approve of, and still don’t. I remember the first time I talked to my parents about him.

            “So who is he to you?” my mother always had a way of getting to the point. But I wasn’t able to answer that question. I hadn’t thought of what he meant to me. All I knew was that he made me happy and he was everything that I wanted and needed.

            “If you can’t tell me what he means to you then I don’t want you to be with him! Jade look at me when I talk to you! He is older than you and you don’t need to have influences like him around!” These were the words hurled at me by my mother.

            “Influences like him? He is not his dad! Just because his father is a drunk, just because his father has anger an issue does not mean he is like that! He is different he has learned from his father’s mistakes!”

            “Jade, I have told you what I want you to do. You do not need him in your life.”

            “I can’t just leave him alone! He’s in my thoughts, my dreams, even my actions are influenced by him. There is only one him! Don’t make me let go!” I cried as I yelled at my mother. She would have none of it. Almost immediately she told me that I was not to see him again and that I would be in trouble, until I died, if I did see him.

            He was extremely angry to find out that my parents couldn’t see him for who he was. He refused to talk to me for many days. In those days I realized what I had done. I had pushed away the thing that meant the most to me. I had ruined my dreams and hopes because I didn’t have the courage or brains to inform my parents that he was even in my life, never mind that we were together.

            Even though he wouldn’t talk to me or acknowledge my existence I still saw him. After all, we went to the same café everyday and we had friends who tried to fix what I had ruined. I could not face him. He tried to talk to me and tell me that he didn’t know where we could go from there. I don’t remember what he said but I do remember running home crying. My love for him was my weakness. My mother saw it as a chance to turn me against him. Every word she said just reminded me of how much he meant to me.

            Several weeks later I got the courage to face all my fears. I told my mother that I was going to be with him whether or not she believed it was right. I told him that I would wait as long as it took.

            That was seven years ago. Today I am teaching at an elementary school. My mother has given me freedom to choose who I spend my life with. And as for him? I was right about him. He did learn from his father's mistakes. He is a kind, gentle man. He is my everything.

            “Don’t forget, eye contact.” Every morning before I leave for work he never fails to remind me. He says my eyes shouldn’t be wasted by looking at the ground. It’s true that your eyes are the window to your soul. It’s also true that this is the story of our love.